‘Campus militarization figment of imagination’

MANILA, Philippines — Allegations of a creeping militarization in campuses of the University of the Philippines are just a figment of the imagination, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said yesterday.

DILG spokesman Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya branded the claim as nothing more than propaganda by communist rebels, using the politics of fear to portray the government as a “repressive monster” to arouse hatred among students.

“The alleged militarization and martial law at UP is a figment of the imagination gone overdrive,” Malaya said in a statement.

Students, faculty and other members of the UP community held a “Day of Walkout and Action” last Tuesday to express strong opposition to the proposal of security officials to allow police presence in state colleges and universities – a move they described as a crackdown on activism and academic freedom.

The proposal is specifically looking at UP and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), which are reportedly considered as the hotbeds of student activism and fertile grounds for recruitment to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The government has been pushing for an increased military and police presence in schools in the wake of the reported recruitment by left-leaning organizations of students to become either militant leaders or communist rebels.

Malaya assured students that the DILG has no problem with activism as this is encouraged in any democratic society as long as exercised within the bounds of the law. The situation is different, however, if this freedom is used to overthrow the government.

“When you use the democratic space provided by the Constitution as a front or excuse to recruit, train and wage armed struggle against duly constituted authority, then that becomes a criminal act and must be prevented by the State,” he explained.

The DILG has expressed alarm over the intensified recruitment of the CPP targeting minors who are in senior high school.

Malaya said freedom is not absolute and has to be exercised with great caution regardless of one’s political ideology.

“If the issue is freedom of speech, we will fight for their right to do so because we are in a democracy but when it becomes armed rebellion, that’s where a line has to be drawn,” he said.

Emphasizing that activism is not a crime, Sen. Leila de Lima opposed the idea to allow policemen and military officers inside colleges’ and universities’ premises to promote safety and protect students from the influence of leftists.

De Lima said the government must allow students the democratic space to organize, express themselves freely and petition the government for redress of grievances.

De Lima lauded UP students for taking a united stand against the DILG’s plan to review an agreement with state colleges and universities which, among others, prohibits the deployment of policemen in the campuses without the permission of their administrators.

“Thank you for taking a stand. Thank you for standing your ground. If  the youth do not stop learning lessons from society, wholeheartedly embracing oppressed sectors, courageously fighting a system that repeatedly tramples on us, what is the right of us elders to easily surrender?” De Lima said in Filipino.

“Puwede namang hindi na lang makialam (You can just be apathetic). You can just enjoy life with all the comforts that this age can provide to young people like you. But you chose not to. You chose not to allow the culture of fear and impunity to permeate deeper into our core,” she said.

The detained opposition senator cited the case of Hong Kong, where young people are sending a strong message to their government.

“They are ready to stand up for their right to freely express their thoughts about the abuses of the current administration,” she said.

De Lima also denounced the police’s plan to gain access to school campuses, saying it is tantamount to martial law and could lead to the curtailment of the students’ right to free expression and to peaceful assembly.

“It’s bothersome that even the right of our students to voice out their sentiments on the government’s inappropriate policies is seemingly subjected for tokhang,” she lamented.

De Lima encouraged the Filipino youth to serve as instruments for positive change to society amid the enormous challenges facing the country.

Summons

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued summons to leaders and members of youth militant groups and former Bayan Muna party-list group representative Neri Colmenares to attend a preliminary investigation scheduled on Tuesday on the alleged recruitment of a student-activist.

DOJ Assistant State Prosecutor Christine Perolino issued on Aug. 13 a subpoena against Colmenares, Charlie del Rosario, Bianca Gacos, Jayroven Villafuente Balais, Anakbayan president Vencer Crisostomo, Anakbayan national secretary general Einstein Recedes, Kabataan party-list Rep. Sarah Elago, Anakbayan party-list Rep. Alex Danday and Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin, who was mistakenly identified as an Anakbayan partylist representative in the attachment to the subpoena.

They are named respondents in the complaint for violations of section 4(k)(l) of Republic Act 9208, as amended by RA 10364 (Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003); section 9(b)(5) of RA 11188 (Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict); and section 10(a) and (c) of RA 7610 (Special Protection of Children against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act), which was filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) on behalf of complainant Relissa Lucena, 37, of Pasay City.

The respondents were asked to attend the preliminary investigation set on Aug. 27, Sept. 10 and Sept. 24 at 2 p.m. in Room 141, ground floor Mezzanine Delas Alas Building, DOJ and submit their counteraffidavit and other supporting documents.

“You are hereby warned that failure on your part to comply with the subpoena shall be considered as your waiver to present your defense in this preliminary investigation and the same shall be considered submitted for disposition,” Perolino said in the subpoena.

On July 24, Lucena reported to the PNP-CIDG that her daughter Alicia Jasper Lucena was allegedly recruited by the respondents to join the group Anakbayan.

Lucena told the PNP-CIDG that Alicia, while still a minor at the age of 17 and in senior high school at Far Eastern University (FEU), was reportedly recruited last year by a fellow senior high school student identified as Rinoa Duero to join Anakbayan.

There had been several photos on Facebook, including the Kabataan party-list Facebook account, showing Alicia joining mass demonstrations.

Alicia was reportedly seen attending a dialogue at Baseco Compound in Manila.

It was alleged that after joining Anakbayan, Alicia displayed changes on her demeanor toward her parents. She reportedly became a loner, stubborn, hotheaded and aggressive. She began to contradict her father and became assertive in what she thinks is right. It was also reportedly noticeable that she had become angry with the government.

She would also leave home without informing her mother and would return several days later. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Evelyn Macairan